


Stargazer

by Alexandria (heartfullofelves)



Series: Fractures [2]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Drinking, F/F, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Post-Season/Series 01, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-02-28 22:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18765427
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartfullofelves/pseuds/Alexandria
Summary: Isobel is invited to Rosa’s birthday party, but things keep going downhill.





	Stargazer

Isobel is home alone, as usual for a Saturday night. Adjusting to life without Noah has been easier than expected, her feelings of hatred and betrayal spurring her on. But not having Max around is something she’ll never get over.

Months after he died, his number is still in her phone – she can’t bring herself to delete it – and her finger hovers over the call button. She wishes she could talk to him, let him know how much she misses him, and how he’s an idiot and Liz is devastated but overjoyed to have her sister back. She wants to tell him that Michael’s a wreck and drinking even more than usual; she has to pick him up from the bar or the sheriff’s department at least once a week. She wants to tell Max that Jenna Cameron turned up for his memorial and gave a beautiful eulogy that surprised everyone, and that Rosa wrote a poem for Liz to read but Liz couldn’t get through the second half.

Liz and Rosa have been living at Max’s house, the two of them shut away from the world, although Isobel visits sometimes, making sure they’re alive. They’ll have to report Max as missing soon, though, and then keeping up the lie will be even harder. Isobel and Liz will have to be in regular contact so that their story holds up to scrutiny, because the sheriff’s deputy going missing is no small matter. She’s not looking forward to it.

Her phone rings, making her jump. The caller ID says “R”, so she picks up straight away. “Hello? Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Rosa says. “Are you coming?”

Isobel frowns. “Coming where?”

“To the party.” Rosa makes it sound obvious.

“No. What party?”

Rosa groans something in Spanish. “It’s my birthday. We’re having a little party at Max’s house. Wanna come?”

It _would_ beat sitting at home and moping. “Who else is there?” She can hear music and voices in the background.

“It’s just me, Liz, Kyle, and Alex. We could do with one more.”

“Michael isn’t there? Or Maria?”

“Why would Michael be at my party? I don’t even know him. And Maria doesn’t know about me yet, or about alien crap. You’re kinda the last person on my invite list.”

Isobel has been getting to know Rosa for real over the past months, so that stings, though she doesn’t admit it. Instead, she says, “I’ll bring wine.”

After hanging up, she walks over to her wardrobe and picks out something to wear. She chooses a low-cut black pantsuit, wanting to be stylish but warm, as it’s early February. Once she’s tied her hair in a high ponytail and put on her lipstick, she grabs her bag and a few wine bottles and leaves the house.

She’s always thought that Max’s place is perfect for having parties: it’s out of town, there’s plenty of room outside, and if you push the lounge furniture to the side there’s plenty of floor space. When she arrives, she’s disappointed to see that the doors and windows are closed and the party of four is centred around the kitchen. She aims to fix that. Dimming the lights and turning up the music, she announces her entrance.

“You call this a party?” she says as the others look at her.

They’re already tipsy enough to not get offended, and she greets Liz, Kyle, and Alex by pouring them each a glass of wine and shooing them into the living room. When it’s just her and Rosa, she says, “Happy birthday. Do you drink?”

Rosa grins. “Yeah. It’s drugs I can’t touch.”

She hands Rosa a normal sized glass, then pours a large one for herself. Grabbing her phone, she takes control of the music, and smirks when Liz lets out a whoop.

“We thought you’d bring the party to life,” Rosa says. “It was pretty lame, even with some of my favourite people here.”

Isobel laughs – she’s made a living out of taking control of other people’s parties. Hell, she even organised each detail of her own wedding. Making sure people have a good time is what she does.

“So,” she says, “does this mean you’re 20 or 30 now?”

“Oh, god.” Rosa sighs, and looks up at the ceiling. “Twenty, I guess, but I don’t want to be Liz’s little sister. I’m meant to protect her, not the other way around.”

“Yeah.” Isobel takes a mouthful of wine. “Sorry about that.”

Rosa scoffs. “Would you stop apologising? I know you didn’t kill me. You just set my dead body on fire and made me look like a reckless driver who killed myself and two other girls.”

It’s messed up, it’s so messed up. But there’s alcohol in their systems and a party in the next room, and they laugh. Rosa’s dark eyes, lit up with laughter, crinkle at the edges, and her teeth are on show.

When they stop laughing, Isobel notices Rosa’s red lips. “Nice lipstick.”

Rosa raises her eyebrows. “It’s armour.”

 _Against what?_ Isobel wonders, since Rosa doesn’t need to defend herself tonight. There’s only Liz and her friends and – oh, she realises as she notices Rosa glancing down her neckline. It’s armour against _her_.

“You okay?” Rosa asks, too perceptive for Isobel’s liking.

“I just need some air.”

Isobel takes her glass, grabs a blanket off Max’s couch, and walks outside. She stops several yards away and sits down on the cold ground, grateful for the blanket. She drinks her wine. It’s calm out here; no sounds from any people, enough light from the house to not trip over anything, and the night sky is clear. Once she’s emptied her glass, she sets it down and lies down to look at the stars.

Picking out constellations brings her peace, though she only knows the main ones. Remembering Noah’s affinity for Ophiuchus, she wonders where it is. Michael, who spent evenings as a kid gazing at the stars, might know where to look. She left her phone inside, so she can’t even look it up on an app.

The music picks up, telling Isobel that someone’s opened the door to the house. Soon she hears footsteps coming towards her. Someone sits beside her.

“Hey.” It’s Rosa.

Isobel sits up. “Hey.” She sees that Rosa’s holding a guitar. “Where’d you get that from?”

Rosa’s fingers move over the strings, playing something unfamiliar to Isobel’s ears. “Alex gave it to me for my birthday. I couldn’t afford my own one when I was a teenager, so I used to borrow his. He doesn’t need it anymore, so he gave it to me.”

“That was nice of him.”

“Yeah. What are you doing out here?”

Isobel sighs. “I’m looking at the stars. I tried to find Ophiuchus, but I’ve got no idea where it is.”

Rosa stops playing and looks up at the sky. A minute later, she grabs Isobel’s hand. Startled, Isobel glances at Rosa, who takes their joined hands and draws a shape in the sky.

“It’s only just visible again after a couple months of being hidden by the sun,” Rosa explains.

But Isobel isn’t looking at the sky; she’s looking at Rosa. “I can’t believe you remembered where it is.”

A smile forms on Rosa’s red lips. “I also remember the giddiness I felt when you took my hand that night. Although it wasn’t you.”

“I know the feeling,” Isobel replies, ignoring the allusion to Noah and squeezing Rosa’s hand.

Rosa meets her gaze and lays the guitar on the ground before turning to face Isobel. Isobel’s heart races, knowing what it means. With the hand that isn’t entwined with Rosa’s, she reaches out to touch Rosa’s hair, letting her know that it’s okay. They sit there in silence, just looking at each other. Staring at Rosa’s lips, Isobel parts her own in invitation. Rosa shifts, grabbing the blanket that Isobel’s wrapped in to bring her closer, until their lips almost touch, Isobel able to feel Rosa’s breath.

Then the door opens and Kyle shouts, “Where’s birthday girl? It’s cake time!”

Gasping, Isobel jerks away. Rosa drops their hands and fumbles to her feet, grabbing the guitar and heading back inside. Isobel lets out a shaky sigh and blinks a few times before regaining her composure and returning to the party.

The music has stopped, but Alex has the guitar and is strumming as Liz carries the cake into the room. All of them, Isobel included, take great pleasure in embarrassing Rosa by singing “Happy Birthday”. Rosa’s cheeks are red as she blows out the candles, and Isobel knows it’s not just because of the wine.

They cheer and eat the cake, noting how moist and flavoursome it is, as adults do when they eat cake.

“Who made it?” Isobel asks.

“I did.” Liz grins. “With a bit of help from Alex.”

“A lot of help,” Alex corrects with a smirk.

Rosa laughs. “It’s not that hard to bake a chocolate cake.”

Liz looks sheepish. “Some drinks may have been consumed in the process.”

“Well,” Kyle says, “it’s edible and that’s all that matters.”

“Edible?”

Everyone laughs at Liz’s offended expression.

When they’ve eaten as much cake as they can, Liz raids Max’s booze cupboard and whips out a bottle of tequila. While she pours shots for everyone, her sister turns the music back on, and Isobel gets Kyle and Alex to help her move the furniture, making room for a dancefloor.

There’s only five of them, but they make it into a decent party, all of them dancing or drinking or dancing while drinking. Rosa keeps her distance from Isobel. It hurts, but Isobel understands and tries not to be too insulted. After all, Rosa painted her lips red to stop herself from letting Isobel hurt her. So Isobel gives her as much space as possible given that they’re all dancing together.

When a song with a salsa rhythm comes on, Liz grabs Kyle. Isobel smiles at the easy way they move together, both knowing the steps so well. She hasn’t danced with a partner since the night of the gala, and that was...

She gasps, clutching her head as images of Noah flood her brain. Her stomach clenches. She remembers getting inside his head that night and finding that he’d lied to her all this time. She remembers him telling her that she may be in control on that plane but out in the real world he was in control of her. It’s too much. Her eyes roll back, and she collapses.

Sometime later, she wakes with a groan. She’s lying on her back, but not in her own bed. Gasping, she sits up and takes in her surroundings.

“Hey, easy,” Kyle says from an armchair.

She sighs and looks up at the ceiling. “Oh, it’s you.”

“I knew you missed being my patient.” Getting to his feet and walking over to her, he smirks.

“This is Max’s bedroom,” she says. “What happened?”

“You blacked out while we were dancing. Do you remember dancing?”

Memories of Rosa’s party come back to her. She nods. “Yeah. Can I have some acetone?”

He hands her a bottle from Max’s beside table. “I thought that would be the first thing you asked for. So you remember dancing. What’s the date?”

“It’s Rosa’s birthday,” she replies, taking the acetone.

“Do you know who the president is?”

She groans.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he says. “You should’ve seen Rosa’s reaction when we told her.”

“I think I can imagine.” She takes two swigs from the bottle of nail polish remover.

Kyle does a quick examination, then tells her she’s fine. There’s something off about the way he hovers, though, as if he’s still worried, even though she’s healthy.

She sighs. “You want to know why I blacked out.”

He swallows. “It’s none of my business. You don’t have to tell me.”

“I was remembering dancing with Noah at the gala and getting inside his head,” she tells him.

With a gentle smile befitting a doctor, he says, “If you need to talk to someone–”

“Thanks,” she snaps, “but I’m not going to talk to _you_ about my problems.”

“I was going to say I know a good therapist,” he says.

“Right.”

They look at each other in awkward silence before she tells him that she’s fine and he can go back to the party.

Alone again, she exhales. She gets up and goes to the bathroom to freshen up before joining the others. When she walks into the living room, she finds the music has been switched off, but Rosa is playing the guitar while Liz and Alex tidy up. She sits next to Rosa on the couch.

“Are you okay?” she asks.

Rosa frowns. “Yeah. Why?”

“I don’t know, last time I blacked out in your vicinity it didn’t end so well for you.”

Rosa’s whole body flinches. “God, Isobel. Can you stop bringing up that night?”

“Sorry.” Isobel sighs. “I didn’t mean to ruin your party.”

“It’s fine.”

But it’s not fine, so Isobel leaves her alone and goes into the kitchen to help Alex and Liz. There are a lot of glasses to wash, and she wonders how long they kept drinking after she passed out. She checks the time; it’s the early hours of the morning, so they’ve got a couple hours of drinking on her.

When Alex announces that it’s time for him to leave, Liz asks if he’s okay to drive, but he claims he’s fine. Isobel believes him, as out of the five of them, he doesn’t have booze on his breath, and his eyes are clear. He hugs Liz, Rosa, and Kyle and leaves.

Not long afterwards, Kyle leaves too. As he does, he slips Isobel a piece of paper. On it is a name and a phone number – the therapist he mentioned. She starts to thank him, but he’s already swept up in a hug with his sister.

Now that it’s just Isobel, Rosa, and Liz, the atmosphere changes. Having the guys there worked as a buffer, and now the room is tense.

“I should probably go too,” she says, locating her shoes and putting them back on.

Rosa grabs her arm. “Whoa, you are not thinking about driving.”

Isobel pulls away. “I’m fine.”

“I’ll call you a taxi,” Liz says.

“No.” Rosa turns to Liz. “Isobel can stay the night.”

Isobel glances between the sisters. “The pair of you shouldn’t pretend to worry about me. You’ve got enough real stuff to worry about.”

Rosa’s face falls, and Isobel notices that her lipstick has faded, probably smudged off on all the glasses she’s had tonight.

“Good night,” Isobel says, grabbing her bag. “I hope you had a nice birthday.”

She walks out, ignoring Rosa’s protests. She just needs to get out of here, to not be reminded of everything that has gone wrong in her life. She needs to not be reminded that Rosa is here because Max sacrificed his life to bring her back to Liz.

It’s not until she’s on the open road that she notices how drunk she is. The wine and tequila have affected her more than she thought – her vision is blurry, and the road markings aren’t staying still. Max would kill her for driving like this. Angry tears fall down her cheeks. God, she misses him.

Instead of driving back into town, she heads out to the mines, to her brother’s secret grave. Torch in hand, she finds the marking that she redraws in the sand each time she visits. Hugging herself, she speaks out loud. She tells him that she’s a mess and that he’d hate to see her like this, but that he admitted himself that he’d be the same if she died.

“Why’d you go and leave me?” she asks, throat sore with emotion. “You were only thinking about Liz when you did it. Why didn’t you think about me?”

The only answer is a cloud moving in front of the moon and blocking its light. At least the stars are still bright. She sighs, and kneels to trace her finger in the sand, making sure the symbol will be visible when she next visits. It’s freezing cold, so she doesn’t stay any longer.

“Good night, Max.”

She returns to her car. As she’s driving down the highway towards town, she spots a deer in the middle of the road, and gasps. She’s going too fast to brake, so she swerves. But her reaction times are dulled by alcohol and she goes off the road, the shock of it making her lose control completely.

The car stops when it hits a rock.

She recovers enough to reverse and then turn off the engine, trying to get her breath back. As much as she hates to admit it, Liz and Rosa were right – she shouldn’t be driving. But it’s the middle of the night and she’s in the middle of nowhere. There’s no way she’s going to call someone to rescue her and let them see her like this. So, once she’s calmed down and checked herself for injuries, she turns the engine back on and drives home, much slower this time.

Her phone rings, so she puts it through the Bluetooth setup. She can’t imagine why anyone would be calling her at this time of night. “Hello?”

“Hey, it’s me.”

Rosa. Isobel sighs in relief.

“I just wanted to know if you got home safe.”

Isobel hesitates, wondering how much to tell her. “Not yet,” she says. “I took a detour. I’ll text you when I get in.”

“Are you okay?” Rosa asks. “You sound weird.”

“I’m fine. Just concentrating on the road. Good night, Rosa.”

“Buenas noches.” Isobel just knows that Rosa is rolling her eyes.

She arrives home without any more incidents. The first thing she does, after texting Rosa, is to have a shower. The hot water cascades over her body and she closes her eyes, letting it comfort her. It’s not until the water starts to scorch her skin and bring her back to reality that she turns off the shower and gets out.

There’s nothing left to do but go to bed. She checks her phone before she turns out the light, and sees a response from Rosa. The message is a single heart emoji. She smiles, then frowns. What is Rosa’s game? Tonight, she wore red lipstick – armour – but she almost kissed Isobel, then she ignored her for the rest of the party, then she wanted to make sure she got home, and _then_ she sent a heart emoji. For someone who hates it when people play with her, Rosa sure is a hypocrite.

Sighing, Isobel turns off the light and snuggles under the bedcovers. For once, the alcohol and emotional exhaustion work in her favour, and she slips into sleep with no problems.

* * *

In the morning, she picks up some coffee and croissants and drives to Sanders’ Auto. It’s been a few days since she last talked to Michael, and she could do with the company of someone who understands her emotional state better than anyone else. Misery loves company and all that. Also, there’s a dent in her car from last night that she’d like him to look at.

Trying to ignore Max’s car parked in between two wrecked vehicles, she knocks on the door of the Airstream. “Morning!” she calls. “I’ve brought breakfast!”

The door opens, and Michael finishes tugging on a sweater before he steps aside and lets her in. “You not working today?” he asks, voice still rough with sleep.

She raises an eyebrow. “It’s Sunday.”

“Right.” He grabs one of the coffee cups and takes a hearty gulp. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome,” she says, eyeing him with amusement. “Late night?”

“I was working on something in my bunker. Got carried away.”

“Not screwing your bartender? I’m surprised.” She takes the croissants out of the box and rummages around the trailer for plates.

He gives her a dirty look that turns into a scrutinising one. “You look like you had a late night too.”

She scowls, because she took extra care trying to conceal the dark circles under her eyes. “While you were slaving away at the office, I was at a party. Rosa’s birthday.”

Nearly choking on his coffee, he says, “ _You_ were invited to Rosa’s party?”

“Mm hmm.” His reaction gives her great satisfaction. But her face falls as she remembers how the night ended. “And I ruined it by getting overwhelmed about everything with Noah and blacking out. Then I drove home drunk.”

“Izzy.” He grips her arm. “Are you okay?”

“What do you think?”

“Would a hug help?” He grimaces, though she knows it’s fake and she smirks.

“Michael, if you wanted a hug you could’ve just said.”

Shaking his head, he steps closer and wraps her arms around her. They’re both holding their coffee cups, so it’s a little awkward. She breathes in his familiar musky scent and wrinkles her nose.

“Okay, that’s enough.” She pulls away and picks up a croissant.

Just then, Michael’s phone rings. Picking it up and looking at the screen, he frowns. “It’s Liz.”

She puts her croissant back down as he answers the call. She can’t make out what Liz is saying, but a myriad of emotions crosses Michael’s face, so she knows it isn’t anything good.

“We’re coming over,” he tells Liz at last, and ends the call.

“What was that about?” Isobel demands.

“They want to expand the circle of people who know that Rosa’s alive.”

“Is this because the party last night was too small for Rosa?” She crosses her arms.

“It’s probably because she misses Arturo and Maria,” he snaps before draining his coffee and storming out of the Airstream.

“Ugh.” Isobel grabs her coffee and her croissant and follows him; this does indeed call for an emergency meeting.

She lets him drive so she can finish her breakfast. He doesn’t talk much, except to say that he wishes he’d never become tangled up with the Ortecho family. Shooting daggers at him from the passenger seat, she doesn’t remind him how much worse it is for her.

They pull up at Max’s house at the same time as Kyle and Alex.

“Huh, those two came together,” Isobel says, and smothers a grin at Michael’s dark look. She doesn’t know what the deal is between him and Alex and Kyle, but damned if she doesn’t enjoy poking the hornets’ nest. It distracts her from the more serious crap.

They go inside, where Liz and Rosa are waiting. The six of them converge in the living room.

“Right,” Isobel says, “what’s going on?” She crosses her arms, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s time we told the truth to the rest of the people we love,” Liz replies.

“I can speak for myself.” Rosa nudges her sister. “I want to tell my dad – I mean Arturo – and Maria that I’m alive. They deserve to know I’m here.”

Isobel shakes her head. “And how much are you going to tell them? Are you going to tell them about the coverup? About aliens? About Noah, and Max?”

“Yes, all of it,” Rosa says. “It’s not fair to keep them in the dark.”

“I guess...” Michael sighs the most profound sigh that Isobel’s ever heard. “I guess it’s bound to come out eventually. Maria’s already suspicious because of my hand.” He cradles his once-broken hand to his chest in what appears an unconscious gesture.

“Absolutely not,” Isobel snaps. “Arturo? Fine, he’s your father; family’s the most important thing. And he can’t tell anyone without drawing attention to himself. But can we trust Maria?”

Rosa’s eyes burn into Isobel’s. She’s determined. “Maria is my best friend. Keeping this from her – not being able to see her – is really painful.”

Isobel reaches out a hand, then thinks better of it. “Rosa, these are my family’s biggest secrets you want to reveal. It’s bad enough the four of you know-” she gestures at Rosa, Liz, Alex, and Kyle “-but now you want to tell even more people? Our whole lives we’ve been hiding our identities because we would be locked up if anyone knew. How are you going to contain this? How are you going to make sure the government doesn’t persecute me and Michael?”

Kyle clears his throat. “That’s where me and Alex come in.”

Alex nods, turning to Isobel and Michael. “I’ve deleted all traces of the three of you from Project Shepherd’s systems. And Kyle’s in the perfect position to keep the sheriff’s eyes turned the other way.” He gives Michael a pointed look. “As long as you don’t add to your criminal record, you’re in the clear.”

“Right.” Michael’s shoulders relax. “Why are you here, anyway?”

“Alex and Kyle are here,” Liz says, “because when there’s layers upon layers of secrets, everyone in the know needs to know who else knows. Don’t they?”

Kyle tilts his head. “It would’ve been nice if you’d stuck to that maxim from the start.”

“Says the guy who kept quiet about my mom’s affair with his dad for months,” Liz retorts.

“Ay, Dios mío.” Rosa rolls her eyes.

“This is a little off topic,” Alex points out.

Liz glances at the group. “So we’re telling them?”

Everyone but Isobel nods.

Isobel stands, ready to leave. “I see that once again people are making decisions about my life for me.” She turns to Michael. “Good luck getting Maria to serve you once she knows you covered up Rosa’s death. Did you forget that she’s hated me for a decade because she thought I was to blame for it? Because she was right to.”

Unable to look Rosa or the others in the eye, she storms out. It’s the second time in under 12 hours that she’s walked out on these people, but she can’t stay any longer without breaking something, either with her hands or with her new powers. She doesn’t want to disrespect Max’s home like that.

Walking down the long driveway, she leaves the house behind her. When she estimates that she’s out of earshot, she stops and falls forward, putting her hands on her knees to keep her balance. Here, away from civilisation, she unleashes her anger. She screams at the top of her lungs, sand swirling around her as she creates her own little storm. Everyone she loves makes decisions for her, controlling her, and it never works out well. People, human and alien alike, always hurt her in the end. Rosa wore her version of armour last night, but Isobel should’ve had her own all along.

She screams until she hears a vehicle driving down the driveway behind her. She turns around to see Michael in his truck.

He brakes to a stop and sticks his head out the window. “Want a ride?”

She answers by getting into the truck and fastening her seatbelt.

“Not talking to me? Real grownup of you, Iz.”

Keeping her eyes on the road in front of them, she says, “I thought you of all people would be on my side.”

He sighs. “Arturo and Maria are the last people who loved Rosa that don’t know she’s alive. It’s not fair to keep it from them; they’ll find out eventually, and it’s better for everyone if they find out on purpose. Besides, I’m sick of secrets.”

“But it’s not just your secret, Michael. It’s mine and Max’s too. Liz and Rosa, Alex and Kyle haven’t forgiven us, and you’re deluded if you think Maria and Arturo will. They’re both very protective.”

“We never should’ve covered up Rosa’s death,” he says. “I know you agree. There were always going to be consequences.”

She scoffs. “So all this is because of your guilt.”

“I was going to tell Liz all those months ago that I killed Rosa. I was going to do it for you and Max. This is nothing in comparison.”

He’s got a point, but she still doesn’t like it. “Don’t you think they’ll be better off in blissful ignorance? As long as we keep being careful, and as long as the others don’t slip up, nothing will happen. It’s over; we can move on with our lives.”

“Maybe you can,” he says, “but I can’t.”

They exchange glances, and Isobel’s heart sinks. He’s made up his mind; she can’t convince him, not unless she uses her influencing abilities. But that would be crossing the line, and his powers have been developing too, so he might be able to resist her.

They arrive at the junkyard, and Michael pulls up beside Isobel’s car.

“Michael,” she says. “I’d never use my powers against you. You know that, right?”

“I’d never use mine against you,” he replies, frowning. “What’s this about?”

She shakes her head. “Nothing. I just needed to make sure we were on the same page of that book. Especially since we’re exploring new abilities.”

He gives a strained smile. “We’re not so messed up that one of us needs to get inside the other’s head to solve an argument, are we?”

“No,” she says, opening the door and slipping out of the truck. “Just messed up enough to consider it for a second.”

She closes the door and goes to her own car. She’ll get him to look at the dent another time, when she doesn’t want to throttle him.

She spends the rest of the day at home, keeping busy and catching up on chores she didn’t get around to yesterday. When it gets dark, she makes dinner. It’s not until she’s serving it that she realises she’s made enough for two. Refusing to get upset, she serves half and leaves the other to cool; she’ll put it in the fridge and have it tomorrow.

Sitting down to eat gives her time to think about the weekend’s events. After what’s happened in the last 24 hours, she needs to talk to Rosa, so she texts her after she’s finished her meal and cleaned up. Rosa responds right away, saying that she’s at the Crashdown with Liz and they’re about to go upstairs and talk to Arturo. Isobel asks her to wait, to which Rosa says okay.

She rushes to the diner, thinking about how many Rosa-related trips she’s made in her car recently. The number is too high for her liking; as much as she enjoys spending time with Rosa, it doesn’t seem to be helping her. But she can’t stay away.

Rosa and Liz are inside the diner when Isobel arrives, and they jump when she opens the door and walks in.

“I thought you locked the door,” Liz scolds her sister.

“She did.” Isobel smirks at Liz, then turns to Rosa. “Look, I’m-”

“Get down!” Liz yells a split-second before there’s a crash and the sound of gunshots.

Isobel ducks, putting her arms over her head. There’s a pain in her thigh but she ignores it until the shooting stops. It doesn’t take long.

When she looks up, the front window of the diner is shattered, and Liz and Rosa are huddled under a table. The three of them stand up at the same time, Isobel shaky on her legs. She crosses the room to make sure they’re all right, but the pain in her thigh worsens and her knee buckles.

Rosa catches her. “Isobel Evans, are you falling for me?”

She appreciates the joke, but her leg is on fire and she cries out in pain. Her body shakes; she can’t control it. Glancing down at her thigh, she can’t make sense of what she’s seeing. But Rosa gasps.

“Oh my god,” Liz says, putting pressure on the wound. “Are you okay?”

Isobel grits her teeth and lets Liz and Rosa lower her to the ground. “You tell me, genius.”

“I think you’re being sarcastic, so you must be fine.”

“That your medical opinion?” Isobel grunts as a wave of pain washes over her.

“Liz, we have to get her to the hospital,” Rosa says.

“No!” Isobel grabs Rosa’s hand. “No. Get Michael.”

Frantic footsteps approach, and it’s while Isobel is holding Rosa’s hand and bleeding on the floor of the Crashdown as Liz calls Michael that Arturo Ortecho appears.

“Papi!” Rosa cries.

Then Isobel is in Liz’s arms and she can hear sobbing and rapid Spanish from Rosa and Arturo.

Isobel shivers. “I’m cold,” she whispers. “Am I losing much blood?”

Liz shakes her head, keeping pressure on the wound. “You’re feeling the wind coming in through the broken window. Michael will be here soon, and I called Kyle too. You’re gonna be okay.”

“Getting shot really hurts.” Isobel hisses as more pain rushes over her. She tries to listen to the conversation between Rosa and her father, but she can’t interpret their fast, emotional Spanish while she’s in this much pain. “What are they saying?” she asks.

Liz has tears in her eyes. “She’s telling him everything, and he’s confused.”

“Understandable.”

“Yeah.”

Isobel watches as Michael rushes in, the door slamming behind him. “Iz!” He runs to her side and kneels.

She grips his hand. “Can you heal me?”

He stares at her. “I’ve never-”

“Just try. Please.” She crushes his hand in hers until he nods.

He and Liz exchange glances, then Liz takes her hand off Isobel’s wound and Michael touches her leg. He scrunches up his face. Seconds later, his hand is glowing and Isobel’s gasping as her leg fuses back together.

Michael’s face is pale as he sits back and whips some acetone out of his jacket, leaving Isobel to stare at her healed skin. There’s a hole in her pants, which are covered in blood, but her thigh doesn’t hurt any more.

She puts a shaky hand on Liz’s shoulder. “Help me up?”

Liz supports her as she gets to her feet, and she finds she can stay standing with no problems.

“Go talk to your family,” she tells Liz, glancing at Rosa and Arturo. “I’m fine.”

Liz joins them, and Isobel helps Michael up.

“It worked,” he says with wonder in his eyes, gripping Isobel’s forearms.

She snatches his acetone and gulps it down. “How do you feel?”

“Strange. How do you feel?”

“Also strange. Why don’t we talk on the rooftop?” she asks, glancing at the Ortecho family.

When she and Michael get up there, disappointment sets in as she sees that it’s a cloudy night. She was hoping that Michael, with his knowledge of the stars, could tell her where Ophiuchus is. Instead, they climb the ladder up to the big sign and sit down and talk about the manifestation of new powers. They devise a set of rules about how and when they should use these powers. The rules are easy to agree on because she and Michael are on the same page when it comes to hiding themselves from the public. It’s only when the conversation circles back to whether Maria should know about aliens and Rosa’s death and resurrection that they’re back to where they were this morning.

The sound of the door to the roof opening and closing makes them hush.

“Izzy, are you up here?” Rosa asks, making Isobel sigh in relief.

“I should go,” Michael says. He pats Isobel’s shoulder and climbs down the ladder.

“Good night, Michael.”

Rosa clambers up the ladder to sit next to Isobel. “There’s no stars tonight. What were you doing up here?”

“Talking about important stuff, same as you with your family,” Isobel says. “Are you okay?”

“Apart from being suffocated by my dad’s constant hugs, yeah. Now he’s lecturing Liz and Kyle about them keeping secrets from him.” Rosa’s eyes widen. “But you got shot! Are you all right?”

“Yeah, Michael healed me.” Isobel hesitates, then admits, “No, I got shot. I’m not all right.”

Rosa winces. “You got hurt because of me and my family.”

“No.” The strength of Isobel’s protest startles them both. Earlier, Michael talked about consequences from their actions the night Rosa died, and Isobel’s injury is one of them. “I got hurt because of what my family and I did to you 10 years ago. Wyatt Long’s in prison and Hank Gibbons is dead; it’s a stupid retaliation from their friends. And because your dad’s undocumented, he can’t even call the police.”

Neither of them speaks for several seconds, because what do you say to that? There aren’t any words that can make it better.

Rosa asks, “Can I take a look at your leg?”

Isobel nods, and swings her legs back from where they were hanging off the ledge. Rosa inhales, and touches the bare skin through the hole, because everyone knows you must use your hands to have a look at something on another person’s body.

Trying and failing to stop her heart from fluttering at the contact, Isobel ducks her head and catches Rosa’s gaze. “Are you...?”

“Trying to get into your pants?” Rosa cracks a grin. “I am, yes.”

Isobel covers her hand with her own. “I don’t mind.”

Still touching, they look at each other, holding their breaths. It’s a repeat of last night, with Rosa leaning in so their mouths get closer and closer. But this time, their lips meet. Eyes closed, Isobel wonders at the softness of Rosa’s lips. But when Rosa opens her mouth to deepen the kiss, Isobel becomes too lost to wonder about anything.

The door to the rooftop opens and Kyle calls their names. “Are you going to help clean up?”

Sighing, Rosa pulls away from Isobel. “You have the worst timing, Kyle. I hope you know that.”

Rosa climbs down the ladder, but Isobel stays a moment longer. She takes a deep breath and smiles, processing what just happened.

Then she gets down from the rooftop and goes back inside the diner to join Rosa and the others. They’ve got work to do.


End file.
